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Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Third Sunday of Advent – Gaudette Sunday
Lynn: Welcome and Theme: The pink candle on our advent wreaths represents the joy that has been foretold and that soon, will come to pass; on the third Advent Sunday, the cause of our joy is so close, we can feel it. Jesus is about to join with us in human form. We are on the cusp of learning how beloved and blessed we are in the sight of Jesus and in the heart of the Divine.
Gayle: Opening Prayer: Let the heavens rejoice and the earth resound with joy as we prepare humbly and hopefully for the birth of Jesus the Christ. We are thankful today for the examples of Mary and Joseph, and of John the Baptist; they yearned as we do, they dared to say yes without fully knowing how that might turn out. We pray to be like them; humble and daring, trusting and joyous. Amen.
Advent Candle Lighting Blessing Prayer
Advent Week 3 – (Someone lights the third candle as another prays):
We light this third candle and remember that in the heart of every person on this earth, and in all of creation there burns the spark of luminous goodness – the presence of the Divine.
All: Let us kindle the light of joy!
Opening Song: “Drawing Nearer” by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/udLJ3uDIMlQ?si=WofSVvCvUWQp_UKn
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Isaiah: 60: 1-3 and 61:1 -2a, 10-11
Arise, shine, for your light has come!
The glory of Yahweh is rising upon you!
Though darkness still covers the earth
And dense clouds enshroud the peoples,
upon you Yahweh now dawns
and God’s glory will be seen among you!
“The Spirit of Exalted Yahweh is upon me,
for Yahweh has anointed me:
God has sent me to bring good news to the poor;
to heal broken hearts;
to proclaim release to those held captive
and liberation to those in prison;"
I will exult in Yahweh,
Who is the joy of my soul!
As the earth brings forth its shoots,
And a garden brings its seeds to blossom,
So Yahweh makes justice sprout and integrity shine
These are the words of the prophet Isaiah and we affirm them by saying, Amen.
Second Reading: Luke 1:46-50
Mary said,
“My soul proclaims your greatness, O God,
And my spirit rejoices in you, my Savior.
For you have looked with favor upon your lowly servant,
And from this day forward
All generations will call me blessed.
For you the Almighty have done great things for me,
And holy is your name.”
These are the words of Mary as reported by Luke. We affirm them by saying,
Amen.
Alleluia by Jan Phillips
https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw?si=1gqPggeRvrJohwUR
Gospel Reading: (Dave) John 1: 6-8 and 19-28
Then came one named John, sent as an envoy from God, who came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through his testimony everyone might believe. He himself wasn’t the Light; he only came to testify to the Light– the true Light that illumines all humankind.
Now the Temple authorities sent priests and Levites as emissaries from Jerusalem to Bethany, across the Jordan River where John was baptizing the faithful. They said to John, “Who are you?”
John responded. “I am not the Messiah.”
“Who are you then?” they asked. “Elijah?”
“No, I am not,” he answered.
“Are you the Prophet?”
“No,” he replied.
Finally, they said to him, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you have to say for yourself?
John said, “I am, as Isaiah prophesied, the voice of someone crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight our God’s road. “
The emissaries were members of the Pharisee sect. They questioned him further: “If you’re not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, then why are you baptizing people?”
John merely responded by saying, “I baptize with water because among you stands someone you do not recognize—the One who is to come after me—the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
These are the words of the gospel writer known as John and we affirm them with Amen.
Homily (Lynn) and Shared Reflections
Ever poetic, Isaiah employs lovely phrasing—the coming of the Messiah is the dawn of God’s glory, it is the sound of the good news of healing and liberation, the moment that integrity shines and justice sprouts. Advent asks us to have faith and joy in beginning or beginning again.
Every time the sun rises, every time spring renews Creation and yes, every time a baby is born, we are given a sign of God’s covenant faith in us. One is reminded of the scripture verse: God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son ( John 3:16). Take away the patriarchal language and we have in that the verse all the possibility and joy we need.
However, to give a son or daughter to the world implies loss and sacrifice. Sooner or later, we have to let go of the child who grows to be a woman or man. In the case of Jesus, the letting go is complicated and grief stricken. Joy and loss are intensely magnified in the case of Jesus and his parents.
We can imagine the prayers of Mary and Joseph as they awaited the birth of their newborn. Like some of us, they no doubt prayed for good health for their baby and hoped that he might grow to be strong and kind, tenacious and understanding, a good friend, a ready listener, a happy man.
Despite the unplanned pregnancy, Mary prays “the Almighty has done great things for me.” We don’t know how much Mary learned from the Angel Gabriel but there would be a time before Jesus was crucified when Mary had to anticipate the likely arrest and early death of her son.
Standing at the foot of the cross, she stared down sacrifice, and suffering.
We all do.
The blessing is when we can recover and heal and say, the Holy One has done great things for me. Then, we light the pink candle, believing in beginning anew. And we clutch and cling to joy because we have faith and love. (see the Advent Credo at the close of this liturgy text on how we balance suffering with hope;)
If we can empathize with the poor and grieve our losses but remain thankful and faith-filled followers of Jesus, then we can answer as John the Baptist did the interrogation…
“Who are You? What do you have to say for yourself?”
John knew who he was and who he wasn’t. He recognized the One who is to come and cried out and prepared in the desert wilderness. He was a quirky guy, existing on locusts and grasshoppers, but he knew what he was called to do. Like Jesus, he paid for it with his life.
Chances are, none of us will need to be martyrs. We need only cry out with loud voices the good news that God equally loves everyone from every corner of the globe and that the Source of Life and Light has done great things. Like the little drummer boy in the song, we bring to Jesus whatever humble gift we have with love. And we rejoice.
What are your thoughts? We want to hear from as many as possible Please unmute if you are on zoom to share.
Statement of Faith
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
Prayers of the Community:
Lynn: As we prepare for this sacred meal, we come forward as bearers of Light and Joy, bringing to the friendship table our gratitude for our many blessings as well as our cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your prayerful intentions beginning with the words, “I bring to the table…..”
Gayle: We pray for these and all unspoken intentions, from our hearts. Amen.
Lynn/Gayle: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
All: Source of All That Is, we seek you in this wintry season, when the earth is resting and preparing for new life. Like the earth, we long for new life and hopeful beginnings. This is the time of the pregnant woman, filled with life and hope powerful enough to topple structures of oppression. This is the time of preparing for joy beyond our wildest imaginings.
During this gentle season of Advent, we recognize that you have made us capable of bringing forth justice, like a rising sun. You have given us the gift of listening so that we may hear the voice crying out in the wilderness. One with all who have gone before us, we sing a song of praise:
Here in this Place by Christopher Grundy
U.R. Presider(s) stand at table
All: We thank you for those in times past who believed the good news, and lived what they believed with courage and hope.
Blessed is Isaiah and every visionary who insisted on a better future that would break through the deception, suffering and broken promises of the age in which they lived.
Blessed is John, in the stark desert of careful focus, inviting the people to be welcomed and to belong in your love.
Blessed is Miriam, who believed the words of Isaiah and opened herself up to the unbelievable.
And blessed is her child Jesus, who felt the sorrows of humankind in his soul, and responded with deep and tender compassion. Because of his example, we have seen the face of God and heard truth from the prophets of every age; we are blessed to journey among visionaries in our love of Christ.
Gayle/Lynn: Please extend your hands in blessing of our sacred meal
All: We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
All: On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at the Seder supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
Presider lifts plate as the community prays the following:
All: When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat. When you go from here,
nourish and love as I have loved you.
(pause)
Presider lifts the cup as community prays the following:
All: Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
(pause)
Gayle/Lynn: Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. Please share this bread with the words, You are the Christ light in the darkness
Communion Song: “Light of the World” by Lauren Daigle
https://youtu.be/_cLhaZIBSpo?si=XQM1eNi1fpLTb1_z
All: Each Advent we make a place in our prayer for all those who are oppressed and marginalized. This year. We pray especially for those living and dying in the conflicts and wars of our time.
We are grateful for the tender compassion of your ways and the gift of your Spirit, always drawing beauty and balance, hope and joy from the randomness around us. Like Jesus…
Standing where he stood,
and for what he stood,
and with whom he stood,
we unite in your Spirit,
and worship you with our lives,
All: Amen.
Gayle/Lynn: Let us pray the Jesus prayer:
All: Holy One, you are within, around and among us.
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us,
now and forever, Amen.
Lynn: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.
- - May these days of Advent pass with hopeful joy and concern for each other.
- - May the compassion of our hearts transform into action in the kindom all around us.
- - May the coming birth of Jesus gladden us, inspire us and enjoin us to walk in the light of gratitude and peace.
All: AMEN
Closing Song: Canticle of the Turning by Rory Cooney Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
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Advent Credo by Rev. Allan Boesak of South Africa
It is not true that creation and the human family are doomed to destruction and loss — This is true: For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and destruction — This is true: I have come that they may have life, and that abundantly.
It is not true that violence and hatred should have the last word, and that war and destruction rule forever — This is true: Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called wonderful councilor, mighty God, the Everlasting, the Prince of peace.
It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil who seek to rule the world — This is true: To me is given authority in heaven and on earth, and lo I am with you, even until the end of the world.
It is not true that we have to wait for those who are specially gifted, who are the prophets of the Church before we can be peacemakers — This is true: I will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions and your old men shall have dreams.
It is not true that our hopes for liberation of humankind, of justice, of human dignity of peace are not meant for this earth and for this history — This is true: The hour comes, and it is now, that the true worshipers shall worship God in spirit and in truth.
So let us enter Advent in hope, even hope against hope. Let us see visions of love and peace and justice. Let us affirm with humility, with joy, with faith, with courage: Jesus Crist — the life of the world.
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